Social Groups

1
Social Groups
2
Groups

• People who think of themselves as belonging
  together and who interact with one another
• Provide intimate relationships and a sense of
  belonging
• Groups are not to be confused with
• Aggregate- a number of people who happen to be in
  one place but dont interact
• Shoppers standing in line
• Category- people who share similar
  characteristics but dont interact with one
  another or consider each others interest
• All people who wear glasses

3
Primary Groups

• Groups that are characterized by cooperative,
  intimate, long-term face- to-face relationships
• Family and friends
• Meets the basic need of humans to have a sense of
  belonging and the feeling of being appreciated
• The values and attitudes of the primary group
  become fused into our identity
• Continue to influence how we see the world

4
Secondary Group

• Larger, more anonymous, more formal and more
  impersonal than primary groups
• Based on some interest of activity
• American Sociological Association, Democratic
  Party, etc.
• Members are likely to interact on the basis of
  specific roles president, manager, worker,
  student
• Secondary groups tend to break down into primary
  groups cliques at school or work

5
Voluntary Associations

• Voluntary associations are secondary groups made
  up of volunteers who have organized on the basis
  of some mutual interest
• Boy Scouts for example
• Inner circle- key members in the association
• Iron law of oligarchy- the tendency of the inner
  core to dominate the organization by become
  elites

6
In-groups and Out-groups

• In-Groups groups toward which individuals feel
  loyalty
• provide a sense of belonging
• Out-Group those toward which the feel antagonism
  
• Help to reinforce the loyalty of members in the
  in-group
• US vs. THEM
• According to Robert K. Merton, the behaviors of
  an in-groups members are seen as virtues, while
  the same behaviors by members of an out-group are
  viewed as vices

7
Reference Groups

• Groups we use as standards to evaluate ourselves,
  whether or not we actually belong to those groups
• Family, neighbors, teachers, classmates,
  co-workers, members of your church
• Can be a group you dont belong to- college
  students
• Exert great influence over behavior- clothing,
  hairstyles, speech, etc.

8
Social Networks

• Consist of people who are linked by various
  social ties
• Cliques for example
• Our interactions within social networks connect
  us to the larger society
• Think Facebook-everyone you know, everyone they
  know, and so on.
• Tend to perpetuate social inequality in which
  whom you know might be more important that what
  you know
• Good old boy network

9
Group Dynamics

• How individuals affect groups and how groups
  affect individuals
• Size of the group is significant
• Dyad- 2 ppl smallest most fragile of all human
  groupings
• Triad- 3 ppl bond between 2 of the members is
  stronger, someone left out
• As more members are added stability increases but
  intimacy decreases

10
Effects of Group Size on Behavior

• As it grows there is a diffusion of
  responsibility
• Think about group work, the more people in the
  group the less you actually have to do
• As it grows, the group loses it sense of intimacy
• Group becomes more formal
• As it grows, group tends to divide into smaller
  groups
• cliques

11
Groups and Behavior

• Groups generally reward members who conform to
  their norms
• Group opinions strongly influence individual
  behavior and judgment toward that of the group.

12
Group Leaders

• People who influence the behavior, opinions, or
  attitudes of others
• Who becomes a leader?
• People who are perceived by group members as
  strongly representing their values or as able to
  lead a group out of a crisis

13
Types of leaders

• 2 types of leaders
• Instrumental (task-oriented)- try to keep the
  group moving toward its goal
• Expressive (socioemotional) those who are less
  likely to be recognized as leaders but help with
  the groups morale
• 3 types of leadership styles
• Authoritarian leaders- those who give orders and
  dont explain why they praise or condemn a
  persons work
• Democratic leaders- those who try and gain a
  consensus by explaining proposed actions,
  suggesting alternative approaches and giving
  facts as the basis for evaluation
• Laissez-faire leaders- those who are passive and
  give the group almost total freedom to do as they
  wish

14
Group decision making v. individual decision
making

• Group decision making is slower but tend to be
  more accurate
• People in groups are more willing to make riskier
  decisions

15
Peer Pressure

• A study by Dr. Soloman Asch indicated that people
  are greatly influenced by peer pressure
• The group is so powerful that most people are
  willing to say things that they know are not true
  just to go along

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Power of Authority

• Groupthink- coined by Irving Janis to refer to
  the collective tunnel vision that group members
  sometimes develop
• As they begin to think alike, they become
  convinced that there is only one right
  viewpoint and a single course of action
• Comes with great consequences
• Post 9/11 and Guantanamo Bay